Naruto: The Wind Calamity
Chapter 871: Lack of Interest...

Hiruzen sighed and said, "In my current state, I'm not sure if I can handle such a research. However, this is a good idea, Fujin. Once I recover to an extent, I'll start working on this."

While Hiruzen didn't mind sacrificing more for the village, he wasn't very hopeful of any such research being fruitful. While Fujin nodded, Hiruzen thought, 'Sensei had worked for years to improve this aspect but failed. I and Danzo had worked on this as well but neither of us had any luck. So, it's almost hopeless.

The only silver lining is that I fought reanimated ninjas summoned by Orochimaru, giving me some insights. So, I'll have a better chance than before. However, it is still very difficult. Sigh, how did that traitorous student of mine achieve something so complicated? How many lives did he sacrifice to achieve this?'

Hiruzen glanced at Fujin and decided, 'Regardless, irrespective of whether I succeed or not, I can keep working on it to stop Fujin from pestering me endlessly. The only question is, how long will this satisfy him?'

Knowing Fujin's nature, he knew it wouldn't be for too long. He could only use the time to come up with more excuses to delay Fujin's request until the appropriate time.

Of course, his resolve didn't escape Fujin's eyes despite the lack of words. Fujin cursed, 'This old fox! As I expected, he still doesn't want to give it to me. Though I understand where he's coming from, there isn't much time left. Luckily he accepted my idea. I'll be patient for a while, before going all out. Let me see how long you can delay this!'

Seeing there was no chance of getting the jutsu at that moment, Fujin said, "Good luck, Grandpa. Let me know if I can help you in any way."

He turned his gaze to Tsunade and asked, "Did anything else happen in the last few days?"

Tsunade shook her head, "Fortunately not. I'll call for you when there are new developments. You can leave, but don't lose yourself so deeply into research that you can't hear your doorbell the next time."

Fujin smiled and nodded. He turned around and was about to leave when Tsunade suddenly said, "Actually, I want to know one more thing from you, Fujin."

Fujin stopped and looked back as Tsunade asked, "What are your thoughts of becoming the Hokage?"

Fujin furrowed his brow and wondered, 'What the hell? Where did this question come from?'

Even Hiruzen was confused. Fujin asked, "What do you mean?"

Tsunade replied, "I just heard you were offered the position of the Fifth Hokage by the Daimyo, but you rejected his offer. It made me a bit curious about what your thoughts and dreams are about this matter."

Fujin immediately replied, "That was a trap. Surely you would have realized that too. That said, I don't know why he set up that trap for me."

Tsunade chuckled, "He just wanted to get a feel of you. However, my question isn't a trap, though it ain't an offer either. I want to know your real thoughts."

Without thinking much, Fujin casually replied, "It is too much work and will heavily eat into my training time. Though I'll step up and accept the responsibility if the village has no other choice, I'd prefer not having to accept such a time consuming duty for another decade at least."

A smirk appeared on his face as he added, "That said, since the council chose someone so young as the Fifth Hokage, I hopefully won't have to worry about it for at least half a century or more. Stay safe and healthy, Lady Tsunade."

A tick mark appeared on Tsunade's forehead as Fujin disappeared from her office. She cursed under her breath, "Cheeky brat!"

Hiruzen asked in a serious but confused tone, "I don't understand. Why did you suddenly ask that? You should know that these things shouldn't ever be said…"

Even though Hiruzen was the person most invested into making Fujin the Hokage, he had never mentioned anything related to the Hokage seat to Fujin. From his perspective, he could never be sure who would become the Hokage. While Fujin was undoubtedly the one with the highest hopes at that moment, the future was never certain.

Hiruzen didn't want to give anyone false hopes and risk them becoming resentful if they weren't eventually chosen. It could make the village unstable. The only time Hiruzen would mention it to someone was when he was prepared to hand over the seat to that ninja, something which wasn't the case when Tsunade asked the question to Fujin.

Tsunade answered, "It's fine. He's very mature for that not to be the case. The reason why I asked was because I have a feeling that he has little to no interest in this seat…"

Hiruzen looked at her as Tsunade continued, "He can use his position in the council to vastly increase his popularity among the civilian ninjas. Yet, he hasn't done anything barring the changes to the Academy and creating the Guidance Hall. While both are revolutionary and boosted his popularity, there's a lot he can do to amplify it further.

However, he hasn't bothered with it at all. On the contrary, he barely shows up in his office, making several civilian ninjas dissatisfied. With his intelligence, there's no way he hasn't noticed it. Seeing how persistent and shameless he is while asking for techniques, he'd have done a lot if he wanted to become the Hokage. He would have already laid the groundwork and been prepared whenever an opportunity appeared in the future.

Yet, he hasn't made a single political move after establishing the Guidance Hall…"

Hiruzen muttered, "That isn't entirely a bad thing. If he was as obsessed with becoming the Hokage like Naruto or Konohamaru, Fujin would have been as big of a headache as Danzo, if not even bigger."

Hiruzen shuddered at the thought of Fujin devoting his energy and intellect in making political moves in the background. His simple, straightforward and greedy personality was already too big of a trouble to deal with.

He added, "Anyway, you don't need to worry. Even though he has shown little interest in politics, he has risen up to the occasion whenever the village required him to. He may be very greedy for powerful techniques, but the Will of Fire burns bright in him. He'll accept the responsibility if the village needs him to."

Tsunade prayed, 'I hope so too. It'll be a headache if he ditches the responsibility just like me and Jiraiya… Fortunately, there are a few over enthusiastic brats in the village!'

——

While Tsunade and Hiruzen discussed him, Fujin had flickered into his training ground. Due to it being dark, the training ground was now empty. Fujin thought, 'As I expected, he didn't hand over the Edo Tensei jutsus or other forbidden jutsus just yet. He wants me to mature more, sort of like Ryu, who wants my body and chakra reserves to mature more. Sigh, these old fellows and their strict requirements.

Luckily, I have laid the groundwork for both. Before Akatsuki attack Sunagakure to kidnap Gaara, assuming they still do so, I will learn Senjutsu as well as the Edo Tensei jutsu. Only then can I lay the groundwork for my plans. Anyway, I can worry about this later. For now…'

Fujin's lips curled upwards as his right palm formed into a fist. Chakra coursed through his arm and concentrated around his fist as he punched the ground with his full strength.

——

On the opposite side of the training ground, several Anbu ninjas became alert and flickered out into the open. Each was holding a weapon and prepared to battle. However, they didn't see any enemy.

One of them asked, "What was that?"

Another replied, "The entire ground trembled for a moment. That didn't happen even when those gigantic snakes attacked us."

Monkey carefully observed and muttered, "It seems like the tremors came from the training ground. I suspect Fujin must be trai…"

He stopped speaking as another tremor passed under their feet. By now, even the trainees, including Fujin's students, had come out. All glanced towards the training ground as the tremors were spreading from that direction.

Hikari asked softly, "So, Sensei finally left his house?"

Yuji replied, "Most likely. As always, he gets up with a bang! Do you think he's punching the ground in frustration because he missed the opportunity to hunt down Orochimaru?"

Takeshi replied, "Don't be ridiculous. He must be testing an Earth Release jutsu."

The remaining Anbu and trainees reached similar conclusions and scattered. Only a few remained to keep an eye.

[A/N: Sorry for the delay guys. Had some stuff irl that kept me very busy. Chapters should be more consistent going forward.]

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